Rise of the Apes release moved forward to August

March 23, 2011 - By Liam Goodwin

Earlier this year 20th Century Fox moved Rise of the Apes back from June 24th to November 23rd, most likely to give Peter Jackson’s visual effects company WETA extra time for post-production. Unlike previous Planet of the Apes movies they are creating the apes digitally this time using CGI, rather than having people in costumes and make-up.

However, it looks like WETA are ahead of schedule as the studio today moved the release date forward to August 5th. Rise of the Apes will now go up against Ryan Reynolds/Jason Bateman comedy The Change-Up and will be released 2 days after The Smurfs. There is also Cowboys and Aliens which hits a week before on July 29th.

Rise of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco will be playing a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist.